The Parables of Mercy

Gospel: Luke 15: 1-10

This chapter of Luke contains three parables on mercy: the shepherd who seeks out the lost sheep, the woman who seeks out the lost coin, and the father who seeks out the lost son.  Of the three stories, the only realistic one is the woman who seeks out the lost coin.  She would do so to avoid poverty herself, to feed her family.  A shepherd would not risk 99 sheep to seek for just one, and a father disowned by his son is not likely to go in search of him.

But God does, and that is the point of the three parables taken together.  The woman seeking for her coin - her realism makes the other two parables real and vital.  She needs the coin for herself and for her family, just as God needs us for himself and for the family of God.  God would and does seek out the lost sheep.  God goes out of his heaven to seek out the lost child because God has need of us, and God has need because God is love, and love has need of others to love.  

All of these parables are instructive for us in the Christian life.  Our desire to help the wayward should mirror that of the shepherd, the woman, the father.  Our care for prisoners, the poor, the marginalized, the immigrant, refugee, and migrant are all grounded in this care of God which has been had for us in our lives that we must now extend to others.  A Christian society is not a throw away culture.  It is one where everyone matters, everyone is loved, and everyone has a place at the table.